strange

reclining alone in velvety brown chair in the corner, i found him the same as always, but the encounter proceeded to create an alternate reality. today i met matt miller, who i nicknamed "conservative matt" and who gladly accepted the title, at starbucks. back in boston, he and i began and continued an odd friendship within the walls of a starbucks -- against my better morals. his first words to me were, "so are you a liberal or what?" stunned, i wondered if it was my ramone's lunch box, seattle style, tattoo, or facial piercing that made him ask such a question of someone he'd never met. he noted the look of suprise and explained, "you ordered the grande soy chai -- the grande social ist. so are you liberal or what?" if you know me, you know where the conversation went from there - a combination of being nice and being strong-willed (as i have often been told, i am a walking contradiction). over two years, we took pot shots and, from time to time shared our hearts and lives. once or twice, we even agreed on a thing or two.

matt's in seattle; i think for a wedding. we made plans to meet for lunch and, at his suggestion, which suprised me, we met at capitol hill. so, as i drove to capitol hill, another contradiction entered as he asked if we could meet at starbucks and walk to lunch. he wants me to go to capitol hill and grace the evil empire with my presnece?!? what!!?!! ok. i did it -- and i even ordered a tall "socialist." we walked to a restaurant of my picking.

once there, we discussed bonhoeffer, post modernity, the emergent church, brian mclaren, ministry, talk radio, racism, and even (shock) politics. it was, much to my suprise, one of the better interactions i've had in a while. matt was fair, wise, honest about himself, appreciative of our differences etc. (he even, despite being a gcts student and having been warned about the evil of a "heretic" such as mclaren, had good and, in fact kind, things to say about mclaren). in response, i was more honest than nice and truly encountered this person who, though we've talked exhaustively, i doubt i had previously encountered.

so, it began the same as always -- at starbucks and heavy with all the nuances starbucks carried-- but turned to something holy, sweet, educational, and, above all, strange.